Feeling “snookered?” That might not be all bad in NBA lockout land

When union director Billy Hunter held court in that New York hotel lobby on Friday, he said that David Stern had “snookered” us with that entertaining show of optimism the night before.

This immediately added to the list of lockout phrases, and in fact made it a competitor for the honor of best term to emerge from the otherwise arduous, agonizing and almost unrelentingly annoying labor fight.

Hunter’s suggestion that Stern might have been running a con might indicate more, however, than his acrobatics with language and general mistrust of the NBA commissioner.

Stern had said that there would not be an 82-game season “under any circumstances.” Perhaps that too was an act.

It would take an agreement within the next few days, and that seems unlikely. But if the NBA could be up and running by Dec. 1 (again, I wouldn’t bet on it), it could play a full schedule. Extend the season through all of April. Play 17 games a month, other than February which would have a 14-game schedule. That’s 82 games.

Stern said no chance, but if he can offer a full schedule behind closed doors, he could pretend it is some sort of ‘concession.’

With that, the pressure of finances would build, with players back to threatening to lose $400 million in the fight to earn $100 million more this season. That 2.5 percent that separates the sides might add up at $100 million a year, but most players in the union now would be out of the league by the time they made up for the losses of a sacrificed month.

It’s more complicated than that, of course. A percentage of basketball related income would represent more money in future revenue as that income increases as expected, especially after the next television deal. The sides’ positions are at least as intractable over the owners’ demand that they bar tax-paying teams from making sign-and-trade deals or using mid-level exceptions.

The problem, as mentioned on Friday and as Howard Beck laid out very well this morning, is not that the sides are far apart but that they are dug in. So far, the league has indicated that it will not offer more than half of basketball related income and Hunter has pledge that he won’t recommend that union members accept less than 52.5 percent.

Both sides, however, indicated that every issue is tied together. It might be reading between the lines too much, but that could indicate that a little give on one issue could lead to compromise on another, and they could just stumble into a deal.

Or they have no intention of compromising any time soon, don’t really mind missing a month of the season or stabbing all those arena and areas workers in the back and have just been snookering us all along.